Domain 1: Visionary Leadership, School Culture, and Stakeholder Engagement
Domain 1 tests how a building leader builds and sustains a shared vision, a safe and inclusive culture, and authentic stakeholder engagement. New York expects the vision to be more than a banner: it must be co-created, written in measurable terms, and used to allocate time, staff, and money.
Core rules and concepts
- A shared vision is developed with staff, students, families, and community partners, then revisited through the School Comprehensive Education Plan (SCEP) cycle.
- The NYSED Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education (CR-SE) framework names four principles: welcoming and affirming environment; high expectations and rigorous instruction; inclusive curriculum and assessment; ongoing professional learning.
- The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) requires a Dignity Act coordinator in every building, annual staff training, and a process for reporting and investigating harassment, bullying, and discrimination.
- Culture is transmitted through routines, adult language, and the code of conduct, not through assemblies alone.
Worked example
A principal’s vision statement claims every student belongs, yet monthly referral data show students with IEPs and Black boys suspended at twice their share of enrollment. The leader does not rewrite the slogan. She forms a culture team that includes families and students, audits referrals by code and teacher, compares the code of conduct with DASA and IDEA requirements, and pilots restorative conferencing with progress monitoring. The vision becomes a measurable improvement goal in the SCEP.
Traps that cost marks
Treating vision as a slogan; responding to one incident by rewriting the whole code; conflating equity with identical treatment; collecting stakeholder input after decisions are final; ignoring DASA reporting; delegating culture to one assistant principal.